HARROGATE, Tenn. — Jacie Pittman chopped the eighth-inning, game-winning RBI in the Lady Railsplitters' 4-3 game one victory, and then a five-run sixth frame led the home team to a 6-2 win in the night cap for the doubleheader sweep of Bloomsburg University Tuesday at Dorothy Neely Field.
The pair of wins pushed LMU (20-4) to its fifth straight home sweep and its 10th consecutive win, while putting head coach
Ritchie Richardson 10 wins away from 1,000 in his 22nd season.
In the first game,
Sierra Hucklebee got the scoring going early in the first inning as the freshman tripled herself around the bases before scoring on the same play via an error. Back-to-back two-out, RBI-singles — one from
McKenzie Henry and
Kelsie Hocutt — brought around two more runs as
Bella Buccellato (double) and Henry (2-for-3, walk) scored.
The Huskies (1-4) got one of the two-out, RBI-singles of their own as Kelsey Impink brought around Danielle Barnes (walk). Bloomsburg then used a three-hit, two-run sixth inning to knot the score and end
Bailey Griffith's outing as
Justice Smith (W, 6-0) relieved her.
Smith popped up the first batter she faced in the first pitch, and from there, she was nearly untouched with the help of her defense. The junior allowed zero runs on three hits through 2.1 innings pitched, while Henry tossed out the potential go-ahead run at third base to begin the eighth inning after Marrisa Shelhamer was placed on second base, due to the international tiebreaker rule, and advanced on a sac bunt. The runner took a large lead and Henry made her pay, which proved to be a clutch putout once the batter singled in the upcoming pitches.
Then it was the Lady Railsplitter offense doing the rest, and Pittman finishing it off with her go-ahead, chopped single over the third baseman's head to score
Kelsie Tuggle for the game-winning and fourth run.
In the second game, Tara Baney (L, 0-3), who relieved the Huskies' starter Abby Wild in the eighth inning of the first game with things tied, started the second game and kept the Lady Railsplitters tamed for the most part. She allowed a solo shot from Hoccutt — her third of the season — to give the Lady Railsplitters the second-inning lead, and then LMU didn't see a run across again until the sixth.
Meanwhile, Bloomsburg tied it up when Emily Getz doubled in Impink in the fifth frame, which was one of the two runs
Faith Howe (W, 6-2) allowed on five hits as the other came in the seventh inning.
But, the Lady Railsplitters broke the knotted score via a five-run sixth inning that proved to be more than enough to keep their winning streak rolling. The batter after Hucklebee singled in
Savannah Daniel (walk) to go back ahead, Balee Lesser relieved Baney, but LMU got to her rather quickly.
Emma Webb reached on an error, scoring Hucklebee and then Hocutt (2-for-3) singled in
Grace Cochran, who pinch ran for Henry (single). Tuggle completed the five-run inning thanks to Tuggle's two-RBI single to plate Webb and Pittman, who also reached on an error.
The Huskies scored a run in the top of the seventh to bring Griffith (S, 2) back to complete the second-game victory, and she succeed after allowing a single as she popped up the next two.
Up Next
LMU will be back in action Wednesday in its second road doubleheader of the season, starting at 1 p.m., as the Lady Railsplitters travel to Lees-McRae.
